Confessional
by Anaxn
Summary: If there was one person Shizune never expected to see in her bedroom, it was him. But fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, Kabuto is here to tell her both his and Konoha's greatest secret. That is, if she is willing to listen to him. Kabuto Hyuuga theory


Confessional

Shizune gave a gruff and weary noise as she closed and locked her front door. Tsunade's teachings, although often remotely given by paper scroll, were still extraordinarily difficult to learn. The chakra control necessary for most of them made her break out in a sweat and the amount needed to practice them over and over was enough to make her want to collapse for several hours. Dropping the practice scrolls on her living room table, the young medic wearily shuffled down the hall into her bedroom to change into simpler clothes, but was given an energizing jolt of adrenaline when she saw the intruder leaning against the wall next to her bed.  
"Kabuto! What the hell are you doing in Konoha, you filthy traitor!?" The silver haired sound nin smiled, as though he had expected this reaction.  
"Just dropped by to speak to Tsunade's attendant. Is there a problem with that?"  
"Yes!" Shizune practically yelled until she realized exactly what she was broadcasting to anyone nearby. Dropping her voice to a whisper, she said,  
"Do you know what you're doing? If someone finds you here, they're going to kill you and I'd be happy to let them. The only reason I haven't destroyed you yet is because of your reputation." The spy raised an eyebrow at her.""You know, I keep hearing about this reputation of mine and I don't even know anything about it. Would you care to enlighten me?" Shizune gave him her best snarl, which didn't impress Kabuto, and strode over to her bookshelf, pulling out precisely the book she wanted almost instantaneously. A small black-bound book, which the spy recognized as Konoha's bingo list. She flipped it open, searching for a moment, then read aloud,

"Kabuto Yakushi, age 19. Considered ANBU class Missing nin. Right hand man of Orochimaru, S class Missing nin. Original village: Unknown. Death count: Unknown, assumed triple digits. Highly trained medical ninja. Kill on sight." Shutting the book with satisfied vehemence, Tsunade's attendant gave her intruder a level glare, which actually caused him to shiver.  
"Do you really need to hear more?" Giving a slightly subdued smirk, Kabuto waved her on.  
"Yes, yes, keep going. I want to hear what the people say about me." Shizune put her hands on her hips with a huff, angry with his complete arrogance, but began sifting through the recent year's events in her head.  
"You have been relaying information back to Orochimaru for the past 10 years in order to find the best time to take down Konoha. You assisted him in corrupting the last Uchiha, put most of Konoha to sleep during the chuunin exams, killed _at least _four of our ANBU and have been performing countless experiments without regard for human life. You assisted him in the near killing of both of the two other Sannin and Naruto Uzumaki, but your worst sin was helping that fiend kill the Third Hokage-"

"I didn't kill him!" The silver haired man interrupted, dropping his gaze from her suddenly startled face to the floor. Moving his glasses, he pinched the bridge of his nose, stifling the rising tide of his emotions.  
"I didn't kill him. I knew it was part of the plan and I tried to dissuade him but I couldn't. I tried to leave the stadium in time to stop Orochimaru, but those stupid ANBU…" Drawing in a calming breath, he met the shocked attendant's face again. "Listen and do it well. What I'm about to tell you is one of Konoha's least known secrets and you cannot repeat it to anyone."  
"What do you know about Konoha's secrets?" Shizune asked indignantly, her sensibilities balking at this spy suddenly revealing an obviously pained side of himself.  
"A lot more than you'd think. I'm a spy after all, aren't I? Do you promise not to tell anyone what I'm about to tell you?" Shizune snorted.  
"Why should I?" The black haired woman asked, wary of promising anything to this traitor. Growling slightly, Kabuto rubbed in forehead in annoyance, then frowned at her.  
"If you don't, I'll let it be known that I was here with your permission for non-diplomatic purposes." Now it was her turn to glare. She stood up straighter, trying to match his height. He in return got up off the wall and stood before her, staring down with his coal dust eyes. The challenge continued for a while longer, then Shizune crossed her arms and looked away.  
"Very well, I promise I will not tell anyone." The silver haired man sighed in what certainly sounded to her like relief and took a seat on her bed.  
"Thank you. You don't know what a burden this has been." She gave him a warning glance, more for her own conscience than his. "It's important that the Fifth's attendant know before she does; Tsunade's going to need a pillar of sanity when she first finds out..."

"So you're trying to tell me that you are the eldest son of Hiashi Hyuuga and the heir of the clan?" Shizune deadpanned, staring with willful disbelief at the man now sitting on her bed, his arms draped over his knees. His pitch-dark eyes met her own night-shaded ones, a sort of grim resignation to this answer wearily trudging to their forefront.  
"Yes," He sighed, sitting up straight while keeping her gaze. "I am Neji's cousin and Hinata is my younger sister. I never really knew Hanabi." His eyes wandered to her walls, bare of any furnishings. The black haired woman stared at him for a moment, then scoffed, followed by the sound of her strained laughter.  
"Hiashi sent his oldest son to Kikyo pass? Sarutobi erased all records of your existence as a Hyuuga? Even Orochimaru doesn't know who you are? No, no," She chuckled, waving a finger at him, "That goes beyond the realms of unbelievable and into the land of nearly insane! Every person you've mentioned....I can't even think of them doing what you've told me!" She began pacing in the limited confines of her room, back and forth in front of her bed.  
"Then how do you explain this?" Kabuto exclaimed angrily, standing up and performing the release symbol of all genjustu, and Shizune stopped her agitated pacing in slight shock of what she now saw. His eyes were lavender, pupil-less, and angry; a look she'd seen a few times whenever a Hyuuga had entered Tsunade's office to complain. She frowned unhappily at this and walked over to him, putting her hands on his face. Any well-trained medic could sense the intent and flow in chakra that had been externalized; an expert could sense the flow of chakra even under a person's skin. And his keirakukei was humming along normally with only indignation leaking out of his tenketsu. Her unhappiness deepening, she felt along his forehead and neck despite the annoyance and anger coming in waves off of him, making sure she hadn't misread his chakra. But still, he seemed normal, and if anything, the release sign he had made seemed genuine.

"Are you convinced?" He growled deeply, like a watchdog at the end of its chain.  
"That this is either an elaborate genjustsu, yes." The black haired medic harrumphed, backing away and crossing her arms. "I don't know how you constructed it to mimic chakra flow as well as falsify visions, but I don't believe you could possibly be a Hyuuga, let alone the legitimate heir." He gave an exasperated sigh of frustration.  
"For Kami's sake, woman, would you not believe your own eyes!? I can block your keirakukei if you so need physical evidence! Listen, all I wanted to do was help keep Tsunade from breaking down once I finally reveal my eyes to her." Kabuto stated determinately, staring her straight in the eyes with his own now-lavender pair. She would have blushed at his stare if she hadn't been so outraged.  
"And I'm suppose to believe that you will eventually turn yourself over to Konoha?" She declaimed, and he responded in a level voice,  
"Yes, as an ally. Do you think I like to work for the Snake Sannin? I've wanted to return home ever since I left." The touch of longing in his voice, its sincerity, its depth, dulled her anger. "I plan to submit to Konoha as soon as I am sure of and comfortable with the ramifications."  
"And what makes you think I'll believe you?" Shizune asked stubbornly. Her face was dead set against any convincing and she let it show in her stance as well. Kabuto gave a sigh of nearly lost patience as he stared at her.  
"Would I have delivered myself into enemy hands if I wasn't telling the truth? Here," He took her hand, which she tried to jerk away, and placed it over his heart. It beat a little faster under the light pressure of her hand. She looked at him strangely, as though she didn't understand.  
"You know the technique chakra scalpel, correct?" She nodded, not understanding where this was going, and he relished in the confused look on her face. "Activate it." She reluctantly did so, and her hand glowed blue on his chest against his dark purple shirt.  
"If I'm lying, you can rip out my heart right here."

Silence as she stared at him, nearly dumbfounded.  
"That's barbaric." She protested, once again trying to pull her hand away.  
"But effective." He murmured, pressing it more firmly against his chest so that she could feel the rhythmic thumping under the cloth. Once again, he met her night black eyes solidly.  
"Look, Lady Tsunade is going to need some stability when I reveal myself to her. You need to be that." He gently pressed her glowing right hand to his heart again. "So am I lying?" She stared at it, confusion wrestling with belief on her face in time with his heart beat.  
"Only someone who is telling the truth or taking a dangerous gamble would do something like this." She said slowly. The sound of tearing cloth and her hand now rested on his skin, but he didn't flinch. He had, in coming here, committed his life to telling what needed to be said and the risk of death by Shizune's hand had already been taken into account. He could see her prejudice wavering in her eyes as she witnessed his determination, the doubt that had stood so firmly in her eyes preparing to take that first step backwards.  
"I want to see my sister again." He pleaded quietly, voicing a desire that he had been forced to lock away from everyone, pain clearly edging his speech. His voice broke with the next sentence. "I want to go home." They stood there for a while, the intense bond of sudden trust shocking them both into silence, then she pulled her hand from his chest, deactivating the scalpel.

"I hope you know I still don't believe you." Shizune warned superficially, and he knew that his truth was now set as a doubt against all of Konoha's lies in her mind. He smiled, performing the complicated jutsu he had memorized back when he was eight that resealed his eyes back to traitor's black.  
"That's alright; You don't have to." He said, opening her window and climbing onto its sill. She glared at him, as one would to a captor who was offering them the door. He smiled back like an old friend and disappeared, only a blur on the opposing rooftop to indicate he might have ever been there. She sighed and closed the window, walking back into her living room and throwing herself on the couch. Closing her eyes, Shizune wondered how in the world he had managed to convince her to trust him without a single word of coercion.


End file.
